History of the karate belt
There are many stories and articles about how the belt system started, some far fetched while others very close to what I have been taught.
Through my own research and discussions from my karate teacher it was Jigoro Kano. Judo master from Japan that introduced the belt or Dan/Kyu system to the world. The purpose of this was to give students visible indication on their progress and form a structured rank system.
In 1924 Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi also introduced the belt ranking system, which was soon followed by other karate teachers.
As students pass rank tests they are awarded with different coloured belts. The colour order and which colours are used vary from school to school, as does the relationship between belt colour and rank.
However the Kyu or number/rank always starts at 10 and ends at 1. Black belts ranks increase normally, from 1st Dan to 10th Dan. In most martial art schools beginners are automatically considered a 10th Kyu (wearing a white belt). Some schools are known to grade beginners for their 10th Kyu, however this is rare.
The standard belt system is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and black although you now see red, purple and striped belts being used today.
Today most martial arts students buy a new belt after they have been awarded a higher rank and thus require a different coloured belt. Some students keep their belts as memorabilia while others prefer to give to other students coming up the ranks.
If you require a martial arts belt please click here!
The White-Belt-Getting-Dirtier Theory
Another explanation for the coloured belts is the notion that the belts simply went from white to black because the original Karate founders never washed their belts. They started off with white belts and after years of training ended up with black belts. The proponents of this theory assert that the belt, which was initially white, gets gradually dirtier and dirtier, e.g., goes from white to yellow to green to brown to black. Many people argue that this theory has little truth. The dirtiest belt will never go black, and although the color change from white to yellow to brown can easily be imagined, other colors like green would be hard to achieve.
In summary, there may be some truth within the white belt getting dirty theory, however Kano Sensei from Judo was the first man that started the colour belt ranking system and set the standard for many to follow.
Check out this video on how to tie your belt.
